Time off to Finalize the Planning

Planning

There are so many details in planning a hike of this magnitude. I have spreadsheets that give me and Free Gear an idea of miles we need to hike each day in order to complete our thru in a reasonable amount of time. We honestly do not want to hike through snow and very cold weather, so we’re trying to make miles in order to make it home before Thanksgiving. I have been working on buying food for a while and when my mylar bags get here I can begin in earnest to package our food. I have a very special diet so I pack my own food and ship it to myself. I have to eat 70 grams of protein every single day and sometimes that’s hard to do! I do not eat more than about 6oz at a time too—because of the Bariatric surgery I had a year ago. While I’m hiking I stop and eat every two hours no matter what. It can be difficult if it’s raining and I don’t want to stop but I learned last summer that it must be part of my routine.

Surgery

For the second time in a month I have had surgery to remove basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose/cheek. The doctor is very confident he finally got it all. This was one thing that has been weighing on my mind and had to be dealt with. Hopefully, on December 29th, when I go get all the stitches out I will get good news, that he did in fact get it all.

Christmas

I am so blessed to have grandchildren and already had Christmas with the grandson, my daughter and son-in-law. Sadly, my grandson was not feeling all that well and my daughter found out on Monday that he had a double ear infection. He was a pretty miserable one year old.

I cannot wait for Christmas Day because I got my husband some pretty cool presents and I know he got me hiking gear! I am so very close to having everything ready for my thru-hike. My big ticket items are all set and ready to go.

Fall Semester in the books

I have everything graded and it is all submitted. For the most part, my students did very well. I had some that I don’t think really cared and their work showed it. I get to teach some new classes this coming spring semester and I am excited about that. I love being able to do new assignments and new readings. The sooner I can get through the spring semester, the sooner I can hike!

This photo is one of my favorites. The farthest peak you can see is actually Mt. Washington. The sun was rising when I captured this photo from Beaver Brook Shelter. Every time I look at photos or work on gear my heart skips a beat when I think of being able to go back and hike these places again. It is so very difficult to wait. I so wish I could get out there and just get hiking! But, I know that I have much to do in order to be ready and I cannot rush it. I am not planning on staying at this shelter again because hiking down Mt Moosalauke to this shelter is pretty precarious and I prefer to slack pack it going southbound. But, I may let Free Gear decide how to hike this section since I have done it both ways.

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I am a grandmother of 2 sweet little girls and one handsome baby boy. I have a son and daughter. They are both married to wonderful spouses and my husband has 2 sons (that I consider my own), one is married to an amazing woman and the other single. My husband and I no longer have children at home and we enjoy biking and camping in our 30 foot travel trailer--my husband's idea of roughing it. I love hiking/backpacking and when I'm not teaching Freshman Composition at a community college, I spend my summers backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. This summer I will be hiking the whole trail; doing a flip/flop starting at Harpers Ferry, WV.